Dominic Badaracco gets 7 years in jail for attempting to bribe judge

BRIDGEPORT >> Dominic Badaracco — the prime suspect in the killing of his second wife, Mary Badaracco, 29 years ago — was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for offering a judge a $100,000 bribe to thwart a grand jury investigation into the case

“It is difficult to imagine a more egregious act of bribery,” Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Len Boyle said in a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday. “An effort to impede a grand juror’s investigation into the disappearance of another human being by attempting to bribe a Superior Court judge strikes at the very foundation of our criminal justice system.”

“Crimes like this strike at the heart of what we do,” Judge Robert Devlin said before imposing the sentence.

Devlin later Friday ruled Badaracco would not be freed on bail pending an appeal.

Although no body was ever found, state police, the state’s attorney and Gov. William A. O’Neill reclassified the case in the town of Sherman as a homicide in 1990.

“I’m happy he almost got the max (10 years),” said Sheryl Passaro, one of Mary Badaracco’s surviving daughters. “I wish he got more. He tried to bribe the judge to make my mother’s murder investigation go away.”

Judge Robert Brunetti of Goshen, who ultimately reported the bribe, now sits in Superior Court in Bristol.

The Register Citizen of Torrington reported this week that, despite a variety of leads in the Badaracco homicide case, including theft of evidence and a murder contract against a detective, there are no signs of any viable, ongoing investigation.

Before the sentence was handed down, defense attorney Richard Meehan questioned Brunetti’s interpretation of phone calls between Badaracco and his business partner, Ronald “Rocky” Richter.

“I’m only gonna say this one time — it’s worth a hundred G’s ($100,000),” Brunetti quoted Badaracco as saying on Nov. 17, 2010.

The defense attorney argued that “incarceration will be too harsh a punishment for words spoken in the course of 64 seconds,” referring to a call between Badaracco and Brunetti that was not taped.

“What can’t be overlooked,” Meehan said in a sentencing memo filed this week, “is the fact that long before this matter was reported ... Judge Brunetti had engaged in a series of conversations with Ronald Richter, alone, responding to Richter’s inquiries about the grand jury. He candidly acknowledged he should not have had those conversations with Richter.”

Before reporting the crime, Brunetti admitted he solicited and shared secret grand jury information with Richter, his boyhood friend. Richter was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. A staff member for the state’s Judicial Review Council could not say Friday whether any action has been taken against Brunetti for ethical lapses. The agency’s executive director was not available.

Bardaracco needed a $100,000 retainer for the defense team and upwards of $70,000 for bond because he anticipated being arrested, Meehan said in court Friday, arguing, “These are words with no followup.”

Between conviction and sentencing, the court received more than 30 letters from family and friends of Badaracco, attesting to the fine character of the 77-year-old grandfather and requesting a minimal sentence. Current wife Joan Badaracco said she depends on her husband and “through the years, Dominic has helped people monetarily and unselfishly with his time and effort.”

Badaracco had four children of his own: Donna; Dominic Jr., who was killed in a bar fight; George; and Joey Badaracco.

His daughter, Donna Badaracco-Bastiani, professed an “overwhelming spiritual sensation” to write to Devlin with the hope that “God will open your heart.” She said her father was always a great provider for the family and never raised his hands to his children.

“I know this isn’t right, what is happening and what has happened to him,” she said. “I know the truth about my father. I grew up with him teaching, helping and guiding me, to this day, even.”

Badaracco’s nephew, Daniel Jennings of Wingdale, N.Y., said Badaracco was a father figure to him and “has always been there for me and me in turn for him.” He described himself and his uncle as functional illiterates (another family member wrote the letter on Jennings’ behalf) but despite that shortcoming he has shown great perseverance and success.

Another version of the Badaracco household was offered by the other surviving daughter of Mary Badaracco, Beth Profeta.

“We thought we were the whacked-out version of the Brady Bunch,” Profeta told the Litchfield County Times last year. “We almost never brought anybody into the house because we never knew what would happen. The first time I brought my husband to the house, Dominic ripped the phone out of the wall because his son was making long distance phone calls.”

Profeta said she would ask, “Why is Daddy such a jerk?” That would result, she said, in getting hit with a belt by Badaracco.

When the young girls and their mother would leave and stay with friends, she said, Badaracco would find them and force them back.

The grand jury heard testimony that Mary Badaracco was a battered woman. “I don’t think they took me seriously,” a witness told The Register Citizen. “My family used to hide her. Mary showed up at my house beat up.”

Mary Badaracco was 38 when she disappeared in 1984. At the time, her car, a 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier, remained in the driveway of the Badaraccos’ home in Sherman. The driver’s side of the windshield had been smashed. The car subsequently disappeared, and state police have been unable to find it.

The grand juror, Judge Arthur Hadden, failed to make a finding or take any action.

Before sentencing, Devlin said the bribery conviction is a “stand-alone crime” and not related to the disappearance of Mary Badaracco.

On top of the seven-year prison term, Dominic Badaracco was given three years of special parole, which, according to Meehan, is stricter than probation and tantamount to continued prison time away from prison.

Reach Andy Thibault by email at tntcomm82@cs.com. Follow him on Twitter @cooljustice. Reach Jack Coraggio by email at jcoraggio@ctcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcoraggio.

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About the Authors

Contributing editor Andy Thibault writes a weekly column for The Register Citizen and other 21st Century Media Co. newspapers in Connecticut. Find him online at cooljustice.blogspot.com. Reach the author at tntcomm82@cs.com
or follow Andy on Twitter: @CoolJustice.